I visited my son’s eighth
grade science class at Canyon Vista Middle School this month. They are
in the midst of their Earth science unit. Unfortunately, this is the last
time that my son will be able to study Earth science in public school
in Texas.

I asked the class some questions
to gauge their perspective on several topics:
• What is the definition of a scientific theory? Majority response:
a concept or an idea about something, as in “I have a theory . .
. ” Reality: a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of
the natural world. The kids, like most adults, confused theory with hypothesis.
A scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a theory.
• What do geologists do? Majority response: look at rocks. Reality:
study all Earth systems that lead to understanding energy, water, minerals,
climate, oceans, evolution of life, other planets . . . and rocks.
• What tools do geologists use in their work? Majority response:
hammers, compasses, microscopes, and seismic data. Reality: Electron microprobes,
scanning electron microscopes, mass spectrometers, massive parallel computing
clusters, satellite, airborne, and ground-based electromagnetic, lidar,
sonar, radar, and other remote sensing devices, high-end 3D and 4D visualization
. . . and hammers, compasses, microscopes, and seismic data. In fact,
the energy industry is second perhaps only to the space industry in terms
of development and application of advanced technology.
• What percentage of total U.S. energy consumption comes from renewable
energy (wind, solar, hydrothermal, biomass)? Majority response: range
of answers from 10% to 50%. Reality, about half of one percent (0.5%)
every year for the past 20 years.
• What is the source of a significant amount of the water that farmers
and ranchers in west and north Texas use for crops and livestock? Majority
response: rain, lakes, and streams. Reality: nonreplenishable aquifers.

In all fairness, I didn’t
expect these eighth graders to know the answers to these questions. Such
topics might be investigated in a high school Earth science course; unfortunately,
this cannot, and therefore will not, happen today in Texas.

I’m Scott Tinker. I am
Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and the State Geologist of
Texas. I am a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at The
University of Texas at Austin and hold the Allday Chair of Subsurface
Geology. Prior to coming to the University of Texas 4 years ago, I spent
18 years working in exploration, production, and research in the energy
industry. My father is a geologist. My brother is a geophysicist. I am
admittedly biased, but also informed on this topic.

More important than my bias,
I am the father of four children, three of whom are currently attending
Texas public schools. It is for them that I come before you to offer unqualified
support for Recommendation I of the Texas Earth Science Task Force. Earth
science courses must be a core credit option to satisfy the science requirement
for students enrolled in Recommended and Distinguished Achievement high
school plans.

Every day, Texas citizens are
impacted by decisions regarding water resources, waste disposal, coastal
erosion, flooding, development of mineral resources such as sand, gravel,
and limestone, and development of energy resources such as oil, natural
gas, coal, hydroelectric, and renewables. To cast wise votes, read a newspaper
with authority, or participate in public debate, citizens need to be educated
in the basic concepts of Earth science. Water, energy, and land use are
critical issues facing all of us, and in my view it is unacceptable that
we face these potential crises with uninformed citizens. The cost of ignorance
of these issues is simply too great.

An informed citizen should
know
• That the theory of evolution is not a hypothesis, but rather an
organized system of accepted knowledge that incorporates facts and laws
and applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a set of phenomena.
• That to fuel the energy demands of Texas and the nation requires
a sensible and phased transition away from coal and oil into natural gas
and eventually a hydrogen economy, and that “renewable” sources
provide excellent regional supplements to energy supply but supply only
one half of one percent (0.5%) of the U.S. energy demand.
• That an aquifer is an underground geological formation or group
of formations that contain water, that aquifers provide a significant
portion of drinking, ranching, and farming water in Texas, that contamination
can result from several sources and that we can control many of these,
and that recharge varies by aquifer.
• That tropical storms and flooding represent annual threats to
Texas and that erosion of our coastline is an ongoing process.
• That climate change has been occurring for millennia, but anthropogenic
sources of greenhouse gases are perhaps now accelerating and could impact
climate change.
• That continued human development in Texas will require ever-increasing
supplies of limestone, sand, and gravel.

Texas will need natural scientists,
policy makers, and engineers to deal with various natural resource and
environmental fields of endeavor, and children need to be exposed to these
exciting ideas and concepts. For the next 50 years, fossil fuels will
continue to be an important part of the energy supply and hundreds of
thousands of Texans will be employed in exploring, developing, refining,
and transporting the fuels or regulating the industry. The negative environmental
impact of these activities has decreased dramatically over the past three
decades and will continue to do so as informed young people enter the
workplace. Alternative energy sources will be excellent supporting sources
of energy during this transition, but they cannot meet our energy needs
in the near and mid term. Citizens need to know this.

Texas will need scientists
to interact with decision makers to deal with the commodity of water and
the various surface, subsurface, desalinization, and commercialization
options available to supply water. The need to address environmental issues
associated with water will be with us forever. Increasing numbers of young
people will be employed in fields related to hydrology and environmental
management.

Many of the great challenges
facing us in science and engineering today occur at the overlap between
traditional sciences. The Earth sciences are multidisciplinary and address
precisely these scientific overlaps. Earth sciences represent a true integration
of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and computer sciences and
provide an organizational framework for how we view much of the natural
world. Earth sciences combine observation with analysis and can stimulate
an abiding interest in all science.

The Earth sciences also illustrate
the consequences that the actions of humans and other life forms have
on the land, and provide an understanding of the options that are available
to deal with such impact. Whether the students live in a large city or
a small town, in the country, or along the coast, a well-taught course
in the Earth sciences will enrich their lives and the lives of those around
them.

I strongly support, and urge
you to approve, Recommendation I as unanimously recommended by the Texas
Earth Science Task Force.

Thank you for your time and
consideration. I think Texas kids, including mine, will thank you as well.

Scott W. Tinker, Ph.D.

Citizen of Texas and father
of four
Director, Bureau of Economic Geology and State Geologist of Texas
Professor and Allday Chair of Subsurface Geology, Department of Geological
Sciences
The University of Texas at Austin